Motorists looking to drive from Surrey into New Westminster will have to travel a bit more on certain nights this week.
Pattullo Bridge will be closed to northbound vehicle traffic overnight Thursday and Friday (June 26-27), then again Wednesday and Thursday (July 2-3), from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m., due to ongoing construction work for the bridge replacement project.
Southbound travel into Surrey will not be affected, TransLink says, and the bridge will also remain open northbound for pedestrians, cyclists and emergency crews.
"These closures are needed to safely install an expansion joint connecting the new bridge deck to the bridge approach in Surrey," says a memo from the transportation authority. "Construction equipment will be positioned near both northbound lanes on the existing bridge, making a full closure necessary."
Northbound, take the Port Mann or Alex Fraser bridges instead. N19 NightBus trips affected by the directional closure will be rerouted over the Alex Fraser and Queensborough bridges between New Westminster and Scott Road stations.
Meantime, the new Pattullo Bridge will have a new Indigenous name when it opens later this year high above Fraser River.
As part of a "cultural recognition program," Musqueam Indian Band and Kwantlen First Nation are "bestowing the people of British Columbia a name for the new bridge in the h蓹n虛q虛蓹min虛蓹m虛 language," according to a June 17 news release from B.C.'s Ministry of Transportation and Transit.
"More details about the name will be shared in the coming months."
Opened in 1937, the original bridge was named after Thomas Dufferin Pattullo, 22nd Premier of British Columbia.
The project site overlaps with the boundaries of two former reserves once located in the village of qiq茅yt [kee-KATE], Musqueam Indian Reserve #1 and Kwantlen Indian Reserve #8, Farnworth notes in his memo.
